


I'm Staying

by orphan_account



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: AU where nine stays, Alternate Universe, Episode: s01e13 The Parting of the Ways, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-18 17:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16123433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The Doctor takes the Time Vortex out of Rose and needs to regenerate, and rewords things differently, causing Rose to want him to stay.





	I'm Staying

Rose opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. She was laying on the floor of the TARDIS, and the Doctor was leaning against the console. Okay, so the Doctor was here. But what about Jack? He was still fighting the Daleks! But where was he now?

”What happened?” she asked, looking up at the Doctor.

”Don’t you remember?” He countered the question.

She tried recalling what had happened... singing, maybe? “There was this...singing.”

”That’s right, I sang a song and the Daleks ran away.” the Doctor joked sarcastically, causing Rose to roll her eyes.

Rose traced back into her memory. The Doctor has sent her back to London and... “I was at home.” Well, she remembered trying to open the TARDIS to return back to the Doctor’s side. “No, I was in the TARDIS, and there was this light. I can’t remember anything else.”

She took note of the Doctor looking at his hand and the dark expression on his face. “Rose Tyler, I was gonna take you to so many places.” He grinned. “Barcelona? Not the city Barcelona, the _planet_ Barcelona. You’d love it. Fantastic place! They’ve got dogs with no noses. Ha! Imagine how many times a day you end up telling that joke—and it’s still funny!”

”Then...why can’t we go?”

”Maybe you will. Maybe I will. But not like this.” Why was the Doctor acting so strange?

”You’re not making sense.” Rose said as she stood up.

”I might never make sense again. I might have two heads—or no head. Imagine me with no head!” Rose smiled awkwardly and rubbed her head, understanding what he was joking but not seeing how it was related to the topic. “And don’t say that is an improvement.” He paused for a moment. “It’s a bit dodgy, this process. You never know what you’re gonna end up with.”

The Doctor was thrown back in sudden pain. “Doctor!” Rose shouted, hurried to his side.

”Stay away!” The Doctor commanded.

She did so, and asked: “Doctor, tell me what’s going on.”

”I absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex, and no one's meant to do that. Every cell in my body's dying.” Rose nodded, vaguely recalling absorbing the Time Vortex.

“Can't you do something?” she asked.

“Yeah, I'm doing it now. Time Lords have this little trick, it's sort of a way of cheating death. Except it means I'm going to change, and I'm not going to see you again. Not like this. Not with this daft old face.” He smiled to try to cover up the situation. “Everything about me will change: my face, my personality... but I promise you this, Rose Tyler. I’ll still be the Doctor.”

”I-I don’t want you to change, Doctor.” She stammered. “Is it possible to stop it?”

”I can force my body to end the regeneration midway through after I heal...” he trailed off into some scientific explanation Rose didn’t understand. “...but we still will need to deposit the Time Vortex energy.”

Rose’s face brightened with an idea as if a lightbulb actually appeared. “What if you just deposited the energy back into the TARDIS?”

”Fantastic idea, Rose!” The Doctor bended over and groaned again. “It’s starting.” A Golden energy ripped through his body and the his face tightened. The Doctor was in pain; that Rose could tell. But even still, he focused on stopping the regeneration with all of his might— and it worked.

Rose smiled when she saw her Doctor safe, standing upright, but breathing heavily. “Right. Now for the Vortex.”

The Doctor hurried to the console, but before unlocking it, he turned to Rose. “Listen, you gotta close your eyes and not open them up until I say so, got it, Rose?" She nodded. "I can't lose you again."

She turned around and closed her eyes tightly. With a whisper to the TARDIS and one strong pull, the Doctor opened the Heart of the TARDIS. All Rose could hear was the beautiful singing again. Is that what she heard when she opened up the TARDIS? Quite possibly, yes. But it still didn't make sense why she couldn't remember what had happened after that and before she woke up.

When the song ended, the Doctor closed the bars and took a few steps away from the Heart. "You can open your eyes now, Rose."

She opened them and turned around. “Doctor, have you changed before?”

The Doctor nodded. “Yes, I have.” The TARDIS beeped, and showed eight different people on one of the monitors.

Rose observed each one, then smiled. “You need someone to help you with your fashion sense.”

”What?”

”Look at that scarf!” Rose teased. “I feel bad for whoever had to knit that!”

”The TARDIS created it for me.” He responded seriously, not fond of Rose’s playful banter. She pointed at the fifth person and opened her mouth to speak, but the Doctor cut her off. “Please, Rose...”

Rose gave the Doctor her tongue-between-her-teeth smile, then said sarcastically, “That’s a very fashionable vegetable. Or was it your daily snack?”

He switched off the monitor, rolling his eyes. “You better get to bed, Rose. We’re going to a planet in the morning.”

”Barcelona?” She smiled.

”Well I was thinking of a different place that might be better,” the Doctor said while Rose headed off towards the hallway.

”And where’s that?” Rose asked before turning the ocorner.

”New Earth.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this is an AU where Nine stays instead of regenerating. Basically, it’s going to be a rewrite of the Tenth Doctor’s Era, but with Nine instead. The same general storyline will be the same, except for dialogue and a couple of choices and other stuff.
> 
> Who’s excited for Season 11?! Seven days!


End file.
